


Weapon

by goldenwing57



Series: Ultimate Lifeform?  More Like Ultimate Cutie! [12]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Baby Shadow, Gen, I just realized that Shadow was created during the Cold War, Sadly, Shadow is a weapon, WWII mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27531658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenwing57/pseuds/goldenwing57
Summary: What is a weapon?
Relationships: Gerald Robotnik & Maria Robotnik, Gerald Robotnik & Shadow the Hedgehog, Maria Robotnik & Shadow the Hedgehog
Series: Ultimate Lifeform?  More Like Ultimate Cutie! [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809103
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Weapon

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: this one takes more of a serious tone than the others. I wondered what makes Shadow see himself the way he does, and this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: Shadow, Gerald, and Maria all belong to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, which belongs to SEGA. I only borrow them for fics.

Aim. 

Fire.

Boom. Target destroyed. 

It was easy to talk about weapons. Weapons were cold, merciless, and non-discriminating. They were mere tools created by mankind with one sole purpose: to leave nothing but total destruction in their wakes. It was easy to describe their specifications, their firepower, and the subsequent blast radius. 

Aim.

Fire.

Boom. Target destroyed. 

It was easy to talk about the weapon he had created, until one day, it wasn't. 

The truth was that he wasn't sure when it stopped being a mere weapon. Was it when it opened its eyelids to reveal bright, scarlet orbs that took in its surroundings? Maybe, maybe not. 

Perhaps it was when the little creature took hi- no, its first unsteady steps. He had to applaud its determination to obtain the shoe that Maria was holding up. After all, a drive to complete the mission was a highly desirable trait for a living weapon, was it not? 

No, it had to be the times when it- **he** followed him around the lab in the rare times when he wasn’t playing with Maria. The child had an insatiable curiosity, one that reminded the scientist of his own sons when they were small and that he often saw in Maria. It surely seemed that the apples never fell far from the tree.

The moment it became difficult was one he would never forget.

Gerald was measuring samples when he felt the familiar tug on his lab coat. Shadow had yet another question.

Without pause, he asked, “What is it?”

“Professor, what’s a weapon?”

“Well,” Gerald began, “a weapon is a tool people use to defend themselves when they need to fight, like the guns that the cowboys use in those radio shows that you and Maria like to listen to. You always want to be careful when you use them, though, because they can hurt people.”

Shadow went silent. When Gerald stopped and looked down, he couldn’t see his expression, for his face was angled toward the ground. The child’s hands had dropped to his sides.

“Why do you ask?”

Shadow kept his eyes down as he answered, “When I got done with training today, Dr. Clark said that, one day, I would be the greatest weapon we have. What did he mean by that?”

Gerald exhaled sharply through his nose before turning to go to his chair. 

_I’m going to have a word with him._

“Shadow, why don’t you sit with me,” he said as he sat down. Shadow climbed into his lap and looked up, puzzled.

“When I created you, I gave you immense power, much of which even I’m not aware of. The world below had just finished a brutal war, one of the worst ever. You see, war is a terrible thing. Many lives were lost. In the end, one country created a weapon that killed hundreds of thousands of people and hurt even more. We never want that to happen again. The power that you possess is great. You will be able to end wars before they have the chance to begin.” Shadow furrowed his brow as he processed the information that had been given to him.

“Your appearance, though, will allow you to live with the people down below.” Gerald drew Shadow’s chin up to look him in the eyes.

“I want you to promise me something. Promise me that, while you’re here, you’ll train hard and get stronger, but when you get down there, you’ll live among the people and make friends. Live a normal life and don’t be just a weapon. Find people to love, and only use your power to do whatever it takes to protect them from harm. Do you think you can do that?”

Shadow thought for a moment. “Yes,” he finally answered. Gerald gave him an affectionate rub behind the ears.

“Good.” Just then, Maria peeked through the lab’s entrance.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you! Oh, hi Grandfather!”

Gerald and Shadow looked up and then looked back at each other. Gerald chuckled.

“You’d best run along, now. You know as well as I do that it’s not a good idea to keep her waiting!” In the blink of an eye, Shadow and Maria were gone. Gerald sighed as he turned back to his task.

It was easy to talk about weapons, but not when they could talk back.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thank you for reading!


End file.
